OhioHealth Joins Partnering 4 Health To Empower Students at the Day School
Photo Courtesy: Kimberly Potterf Photography
Last month, OhioHealth teamed up with Partnership for Proactive Health bringing Partnering 4 Health to The Day School located at 880 South Wayne Avenue in Columbus. Partnering 4 Health is a program that pairs inspiration and motivation with empowering education to introduce healthcare as a team sport and the 5 Areas of Proactive Health in the community.
“Partnering for health is really all about collaboration in the community to introduce the five areas of proactive health through experiential learning,” said Dietitian Erin Lombardo, PhD, RDN, “Our five areas of proactive health are team and support, food and nutrition, movement and exercise, rest and recovery and joy and mindset. This is what we bring into the school for kiddos.”
“This program is vital to the community as it introduces health and wellness to children in their normal environment,” said Monique Brady, MD, OhioHealth sports medicine and family medicine physician.
Dr. Brady was introduced to the organization earlier this year through a retired OhioHealth sports medicine physician, Dr. John Lombardo.
Dr. Brady was invited to The Day School along with other guests including:
James Cotton - Former The Ohio State University and professional football player
Nikita Lowry Dawkins - Former The Ohio State University, Olympic and professional basketball player
Karen Lombardo - RN
Erin Lombardo - Dietitian
The hope for including a variety of voices, with different backgrounds and careers, is to reach the children in a more impactful way. “The kids are more comfortable talking about health with physicians, nurses, and dietitians in an informal setting,” said Dr. Brady, “Also, the program includes athletes, who the children already look up to. They are very engaged in hearing about the importance of heathy habits from former star collegiate and professional athletes.”
The athletes enjoy being there almost as much as the kids enjoy having them at their school.
“Partnering 4 Health is a platform for us to help impact the youth in the community,” said James Cotton. “Teaching the kids the importance of paying it forward with health and nutrition is vitally important!”
The day consisted of lunch, play, interactive stations and discussions surrounding everything they had learned that day. The focus of the day is teaching students what they can do, instead of focusing on what they can’t.
The stations included:
· Protein Strong
· Color Your Plate
· Hydration Counts
· Mindful Eating
· Happy Snacking
“Interacting with the children at the Partnering 4 Health event was very enjoyable,” said Dr. Brady, “Being able to share my knowledge in an informal setting with the kids was invaluable. I was talking to them about making healthy choice while having fun and doing various activities.”
The students rotated through the fun stations and quickly learned about the importance of each topic. By using experimental learning, such as making trail mix or trying new foods, the students could practically implement what they were being taught.
Dr. Brady ran the ‘hydration station’, which featured the difference between hydrated grapes and dehydrated raisins and showed that water doesn’t have to be boring. There are ways to add flavor to water like adding lemons or oranges overnight.
The OhioHealth doctor shared that, “it is crucial for kids to learn at a young age healthy habits that they can develop to maintain for the rest of their lives. It is much easier to prevent a chronic condition than to treat it once it develops.”
According to the Partnering 4 Health team, by bringing these healthy habits to children so early in school, it turns healthcare into more than just ‘sick care’ as they get older. Teaching and encouraging healthy habits is important because children’s health could be much better with simple education.
“Introducing good healthy habits to kids is crucial because it lays the foundation for their lifelong being,” said former athlete Nikita Lowry Dawkins.
“It is easy to spot the effectiveness of the Partnering 4 Health program,” said Lombardo, “The students echo what they learned after, with statements such as, everyone always tells us to calm down, but nobody ever tells us how and we didn’t know that fruits and vegetables give us vitamins we need for our bodies to grow.”
Lombardo wants the children and everyone to know that, “health can be fun, it can be engaging, it can be exciting, and it just means that we all have to think differently.”
Building relationships with these students throughout the day and giving them real-life examples, sparks excitement around learning about nutrition that they will remember for a lifetime.
“I felt that they learned information that they will remember in the future. It was a great day for me, and I hope it was for them as well,” said Dr. Brady.
Through Partnering 4 Health, students at The Day School are better equipped with essential knowledge that will provide them a healthier lifestyle moving forward.
To learn more about the nonprofit, Partnership for Proactive Health, and the Partnering 4 Health program, click here.
